Lakeland May Be The Best Place In Florida To Buy A House

Home ownership has definitely become trickier. Especially in Florida. Home values are up. Interest rates are up. And insurance, yeah insurance is way up. Here in Southwest Florida, rapidly escalating prices in Fort Myers and Cape Coral are pricing some out. But there seems to be one place in Florida where buying a home is easier. And that place, is Lakeland.

The research team at This Old House Reviews surveyed 3,000 non-homeowners to explore what they believe the 2024 housing market has in store for them. That allowed them to rank 148 U.S. cities across nine metrics to determine the best cities for aspiring homeowners. Metrics such as affordability, home prices, down payments, and mortgage rates.

Here are the top 6 cities:

According to the research "Lakeland is ideal for those looking to pursue homeownership with a median down payment of $23,959 and $1,810 in property taxes. Despite home prices increasing 15% over the past six months, homes are sitting on the market far longer than they used to with an entire 1639% increase in median days on market over the same period of time. This is great for buyers as there is likely to be less competition for homes in Lakeland."

Other Florida cities mentioned were Tampa (#24), Gainesville (#31), and Jacksonville (#39). So let's take a look at what's going on with the Lakeland housing market. I did some comps on Realtor.com and it looks like similar homes in Lakeland were priced about 20-30% less than similar ones in Cape Coral. I have an uncle that retired and moved down from Ohio to Lakeland and he loves it. He's about halfway between Orlando and Tampa so the bigger cities are there if he wants it. Plus there's some solid fishing in the area.

So, according to the folks at "This Old House"  if you're looking to move to Florida, or maybe relocate away from the coast, Lakeland should be on your list of places to check out.

The Florida Strawberry Festival is a huge annual festival in Plant City and the entertainment lineup for the 2024 fest has been announced.

We're lucky here in Florida to have so many great festivals to attend year-round. One of the biggest is the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City. Locals and visitors both gather in the heart of the heart of the Sunshine State every February in an event that celebrates agriculture, specifically strawberries. The festival features everything you need to have a good time. There's a variety of family-friendly activities, including live entertainment and livestock shows. In the Midway, there are over 80 rides, games and attractions. Each day features a different special day or discount. You can find those specials here. And of course, it wouldn't be a festival without an incredible selection of food vendors. In this case, those vendors showcase different strawberry-centered treats like strawberry shortcakes, strawberry milkshakes, and even unique creations like strawberry pizza.

The 89th Annual Florida Strawberry Festival kicks off on February 29. Every year, over the course of 11 days, the Florida Strawberry Festival has some amazing live entertainment. There's a little something for everyone with many different genres of music. Tickets for the concerts go on sale December 7 at 8 a.m. on the Florida Strawberry Festival's website.

10:30 am- Jimmy Sturr & His Orchestra
3:30 pm- The Oak Ridge Boys
7:30 pm- Oliver Anthony

3:30 pm- The Beach Boys
7:30 pm- Jordan Davis

7:30 pm- Black Eyed Peas

7:30 pm- Parker McCollum

3:30 pm- The Bellamy Brothers
7:30 pm- ZZ Top

3:30 pm- Mark Lowry
7:30 pm- Zach Williams

3:30 pm- Craig Morgan
7:30 pm- Riley Green

10:30 am- Bill Haley Jr. & The Comets
3:30 pm- Gene Watson
7:30 pm- Kirk Franklin

3:30 pm- The Commodores
7:30 pm- Foreigner

3:30 pm- Jo Dee Messina
7:30 pm- Flo Rida

Cody Johnson. Event tickets can be found here.